Card cutting device



A 19, 1958 MQQ. JONES 2,847,759

' CARD CUTTING DEVICE Filed April 4, 1957 INVENTQR 34 34 MONTGOMERY OSBORNE JONES ATTORNEY United States Patent flice 2,847,759 PatentedAug. 19, 1958 2,347,759 CARD CUTTING DEVICE Montgomery ()sborne .lones, Richmond, Va., assignor to G. Tucker Smith, Coleman Wortham, Jr., and Fieldmg L. Williams, Richmond, Va., trustees Application April 4, 1957, Serial No. 650,657 7 Claims. (Cl. 30-429) This invention relates to a card cutting device, and more particularly to a device for notching cards of a certain type in the edges thereof to provide notches extending into previously cut openings in the card.

In a certain type of card index system, it is the common practice to perforate card'at evenly spaced points therealong. For the purpose of selecting proper cards, the perforated edge of the card is notched at predetermined points whereby the insertion of needles or rods through the cards will drop outthose cards which have been notched in accordance with the positions of the needles or bars inserted through the card perforations. The notches extending into the perforations heretofore have been cut out by devices similar to those employed for notching the edges of railroad tickets and the like. The use of such notching devices requires accurate positioning thereof relative to the perforations which it is desired to notch out in the edge of the card, thus resulting in frequent inaccuracy in cutting out the notches.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a simple hand operated card notcher which greatly facilitates the accurate location of the device relative to any predetermined perforation in the card, thus providing for the accurate notching of the edge of the card.

A further object is to provide such a device having relatively movable elements for shearing the card to provide anotch therein at any predetermined point, and

to provide one of such elements with a finger or the like adapted to fit into any pre-seelcted perforation in the card, thus accurately positioning the cutting device for a notching operation.

Other objects and advantages of the device will be come apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing I have shown two embodiments of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the device;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified form of the device;

Figure 5 is a detail section on ilne 5-5 4'; and

Figure 6 is a face view showing a card of the type with which the present device is adapted to be used.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral 10 designates the body of the device which may be formed of stamped sheet metal and is preferably provided with an opening 11 over which the thumb of one hand is adapted to be placed as the body of the device is grasped in such hand to facilitate the operation of the device. The body 10 is provided at one end thereof with a central longitudinal projection 12 which preferably slopes downwardly slightly as shown in Figures 1 and 3 for a purpose to be described. The edge portions of the projection 12 are tapered toward each other, and the projection 12 is proof Figure :at least the top edge of the vided at its free end with an upwardly extending finger 13 preferably sloped downwardly away from the plane of the body 10 as clearly shown in Figure: 3 to facilitate the operation of the device as described below.

The body 10 constitutes the relatively stationary member of the device and to such body is connected the relatively movable element 15 of the device, the connection between the two members 10 and 15 being through the medium of a hinge 16 (Figure 3). The movable element 15 is provided with a notch 17 tapered away from the body 10 and having the edges thereof cooperatwith the edges of the projection 12 to provide the necessary shearing action for notching the cards, as described below.

The member 15 is provided with a laterally projecting offset operating finger 18 against which a force is exerted to push the member 15 downwardly from the position shown in Figure 3 to perform the notching operation.

A somewhat modified form of the device is shown in Figures 4 and 5 wherein the body of the device is indicated by the numeral 20 and is preferably provided with a thumb-engaging opening 21 corresponding to the opening 11. One end of the body 20 is provided with an integral longitudinally extending projection 22 similar to the projection 12 except that it is arcuately notched at its extremity at 23 instead of being provided with the pin 13. A relatively movable element 24, generally similar to the element 15, is hinged as at 25 to the adjacent end of the body 20 and is provided with .a notch 26 having its edges converging away from the body 20 to correspond to the tapering of the projection 22 and cooperating with the edges thereof to provide the desired shearing action.

The element 24 is provided with a depending finger 27 (Figure 5) which serves the same purpose as the finger or pin 13, namely, to engage in perforations in the cards, one of which is described below. The element 24 also is provided with a finger piece 28 to facilitate swinging it downwardly from the position shown in Figure 5.

A card of the type with which the present device is intended to be used is shown in Figure 6. Such card is indicated by the numeral 30 and is provided along opposite edges with perforations 31 and 32. According to the nature or classification thereof, each card is selectively notched as at 33, with respect to the openings 31, and as at 34, with respect to the openings 32. Cards of a given kind or classification are selected from a group by inserting needles or rods through a predetermined combination of the openings 31. Upon the lifting of the needles or rods, any card or cards having upper notches 33 corresponding to the positions of the needles or rods will be dropped out, thus providing for the selection of the proper cards. These cards may be further subdivided as to types or classifications by performing the same operation of inserting the needles or bars in different combinations through openings 32 in the bottoms of the previously selected cards, by inverting the cards.

Operation Cards of the type referred to previously have been notched by cutting the edges thereof with a cutting device positioned and operated by hand. For the proper dropping of selected cards it is important that a line bisecting each notch 33, for example, be coincident with the axis of the circle defining the proper openings 31. If the notch is offset, a slight overhang will occur at one side of the notch with respect to the corresponding opening 3t, and the card will hang on the selector needles. The operation of previous hand operated devices of this type, therefore, required considerable care in order accurately to provide for the selection of the cards.

Assuming that the form of the device shown in Figures l, 2 and 3 is to be employed for the purpose stated, the operator will swing upwardly on the movable element to position it substantially as shown in Figure 3. The device is moved toward the edge of the card adjacent a selected opening 31, and the edge of the card is permitted to slide upwardly over the finger 13, there being ample clearance between this finger and the element 15 for this purpose. Usually it is extremely simple to position the punching device relative to the selected opening since with any degree of accuracy in moving the punch into the position referred to, the card will drop into position with the selected openings surrounding the pin 13. This pin, if necessary, may be sighted through the opening provided by the notch'17. With ,the pin or finger 13 in the selected opening 31, the operator, holding the body of the device 10 in one hand, may depress the finger piece 18 with the other hand, or, holding the body of the device between the palm and forefinger of the hand, the operator merely may press downwardly with the thumb against the finger piece 18. Thus the card will be notched, the material of the card being sheared off by the coacting edges of the projection 12 and notch 1'7. Inasmuch as the pin or finger 13 exactly positions the punch relative to the card, it will be apparent that a line bisecting the angle between the two edges of the projection 12 necessarily will pass through the axis of the selected opening 31 or 32. Accordingly, the card will be smoothly and accurately cut to facilitate a later selecting operation of the type referred to.

The operation of the form of the device shown in Figures 4 and 5 is substantially identical with that of the form previously described. The only difference lies in the fact that the pin or finger 27 is carried by the movable element of the cutter rather than by the stationary element. The operator will move the card downwardly and to the left in spaced relation to the element 24 therebeneath to hook the selected opening 31 or 32 over the pin 27, the card thereupon being movable upwardly into engagement with the element 24 as shown in broken lines in Figure 5. The two elements of the cutter are again moved relative to each other as described above, to cut the desired notch in the card. The ends of the pins 13 and 27 are sloped to facilitate the sliding of the entering edges of the cards over such pins.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present device is extremely simple in construction and provides for the exact notching of cards of the type referred to to provide the latter with accurately positioned selecting notches the inner edges of which will be smoothly tangential with the inner portions of the perforations into which the notches have been made. No appreciable degree of care or skill is necessary in the operation of the device, and the proper selection of cards is facilitated without any failure due to the inaccurate notching of the cards.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of the parts may be made as do not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A card cutting device comprising a pair of relatively movable members having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one such ends having a notch and the other having a projection extending thereinto and provide with cooperating shearing edges for notching the edge of a card, one of said members being provided with a finger engageable with a pre-formed opening in a card to position said shearing edges relative thereto.

2. A card cutting device comprising a pair of elements having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of said elements having in such end thereof a notch the 1 1 edges of which taper to converge away from the other element, said other element being provided with a projection corresponding in taper to such notch and projecting thereinto, the edges of said projection and notch cooperating to form shearing edges, one of said elements being provided adjacent the narrow end of said projection with a pin engageable in a perforation in a card to position said shearing edges relative to such perforation.

3. A card cutting device comprising a pair of elements having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of said elements having in such end thereof a notch the edges of which taper to converge away from the other element, said other element being provided with a projection corresponding in taper to such notch and projecting thereinto, the edges of said projection and notch cooperating to form shearing edges, said projection at the smaller end thereof having a positioning finger projecting from its surface for engagement in a preformed perforation in an edge portion of a card.

4. A card cutting device comprising a pair of elements having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of said elements having in such end thereof a notch the edges of which taper to converge away from the other element, said other element being provided with a projection corresponding in taper to such notch and projecting thereinto, the edges of said projection and notch cooperating to form shearing edges, said projection at the smaller end thereof having a positioning finger projecting from its surface for engagement in a pre-formed perforation in an edge portion of a card, said pin being circular and said edges of said projection being tangential to said pin.

5. A card cutting device comprising a pair of elements having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of said elements having in such end thereof a notch the edges of which taper to converge away from the other element, said other element being provided with a projection corresponding in taper to such notch and projecting thereinto, the edges of said projection and notch cooperating to form shearing edges, said one element being provided adjacent the smaller end of the notch therein with a positioning pin projecting laterally from the surface thereof for engagement in a preformed perforation in an edge portion of a card to position said shearing edges relative to such perforation.

6. A card cutting device comprising a pair of elements having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of said elements having in such end thereof a notch the edges of which taper to converge away from the other element, said other element being provided with a projection corresponding in taper to such notch and projecting thereinto, the edges of said projection and .notch cooperating to form shearing edges, said one element being provided adjacent the smaller end of the notch therein with a positioning pin projecting laterally from the surface thereof for engagement in a pre-formed perforation in an edge portion of a card to position said shearing edges relative to such perforation, said pin being circular and said edges of said notch being tangential to said pin.

7. A card cutting device comprising a pair of relatively movable members having adjacent ends hinged to each other, one of such ends having a notch and the other having a projection extending thereinto and provided with cooperating shearing edges for notching the edge of a card, one of said members being provided with a finger engageable with a pre-formed opening in a card to position said shearing edges relative thereto, said one element being provided remote from said other element with a laterally extending and upwardly offset finger piece for facilitating hinging movement of said one element relative to said other element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,404,985 Rembold July 30, 1946 

